Disbelieving in Gravity
by Denian
Summary: "If I were to strongly object to the law of gravity, even disbelieve in it, my magic would ensure that gravity does not apply to me."
1. Disbelieving in Gravity

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

**Disbelieving in Gravity**

Hermione Granger was, in one way, a very simple individual: She thought rationally. For many people – magical people even more so – this was everything _but_ simple, and yet, even they found an acceptable way to describe her: She believed in well documented and accepted facts, but had problems accepting anything else.

One might think that being thrown into a world of magic, in itself a force which defies logic in many ways, would be difficult for such a girl. It wasn't. There were books, after all, and most of those books agreed on most of the "facts" of magic. Some didn't agree with everything, but even authors make mistakes. Everybody knew that. Even Hermione. And after all, the real facts were still documented in the majority of the books, and the teachers agreed with those.

What Hermione Granger failed to grasp was a detail so small, most would call it irrelevant: There was no proof. Never. In none of the many books she had read.

What _everybody_ failed to grasp was the sheer stupidity of all those "well documented facts".

Then, something which should have been avoided at all costs... happened. Something which changed Hermione's life forever.

* * *

It was sometime in early September, 1995. Just a few days ago, the "golden trio" had taken the train to Hogwarts. They had not been the only ones to do so, of course, which might just be part of the problem, considering that this was how Harry Potter had met Luna Lovegood.

Hermione, too, had met the strange blonde girl in the year below them. That, however, wasn't really important, because Hermione, set in her ways as she was (or thought she was), didn't let Luna affect her – except maybe being a little bit annoyed by her. A bit more... ok, maybe she was _extremely_ annoyed by the blonde. That still wasn't important compared to Harry's reaction.

Harry was _fascinated_.

Now, please, get your minds out of the gutter. Harry might have been of an age where the thinking duties were shared between his heads, often favouring the one which _hadn't_ been thinking before, but with his personal history, love at first sight might just be a bit far-fetched. Lust at first sight, maybe, but Luna was a little too eccentric for that kind of fascination.

No, Harry was fascinated by Luna's mind. Whereas his friends – Hermione, Neville Longbottom and Ronald and Ginevra Weasley – were annoyed (Hermione), flustered (Neville), bored (Ron – it wasn't food or Quidditch, after all) or exasperated (Ginny) by most of Luna's comments, Harry listened, asked questions... and thought about her words.

When Hermione, accompanied by Ron, returned from the prefects' meeting, Harry and Luna were so absorbed in their conversation, they didn't notice the returned duo for a while. Until Hermione snapped.

"Harry, you don't actually _believe_ what she's saying, don't you? The Quibbler is well known for its articles on non-existent creatures and improbable conspiracies!"

Both Harry and Luna simply looked at the bushy-haired girl. Then, calmly, as if to an upset child, Harry answered her.

"Hermione, what would you have said if somebody had told you, six years ago, that unicorns exist?"

"But... but that's... That's completely different! Unicorns are real!"

"Says who?"

Now, even Luna was stunned. She gently touched his arm. "I'm pretty sure I have seen one before, Harry."

Hermione nodded. "You have, too – remember first year?"

Harry, though, simply shrugged.

"So? I regularly wave a stick and see light where there was none before. I wave it again and there is a flame. Once more and one of the trunks up there is floating, or something disappears. What if Unicorns are nothing but an illusion?"

The other five in the compartment simply sat there, too stunned to speak.

"What you should understand by now is that magic isn't about _facts_. It's about faith. Faith in yourself and your ability to do something. Faith in _magic's_ ability to do something. Faith in the fact that the rules of the universe are quite flexible when it comes to magic – even those laws which supposedly restrict the one force which, by its very definition, makes the impossible possible."

Pausing for a moment, but not waiting for an answer, he went on.

"I bet that, if I were to strongly object to the law of gravity, even disbelieve in it, my magic would ensure that gravity does not apply to me. Or that _down_ is wherever my feet are. In fact, I'll make a bet. Within two weeks, I will convince myself that gravity pulls me in the direction where my feet are."

He looked directly at Hermione, his eyes showing determination.

"And if I manage it, you admit defeat. We are magical – reality changes with every breath we take, guided by our needs, our emotions, our beliefs. If Luna believes that these creatures are real, they are. Maybe not here. Maybe not in this world, or even this universe. But as long as somebody magical believes in them, they exist somewhere."

* * *

Hermione's life changed forever when, several days later, she woke up, went down to the common room and found Harry sitting on the ceiling in front of the stairs to the Gryffindor girls' dormitories.

* * *

_This little thing up there is something like an introduction into the world of magic as I imagine it. It didn't come out quite as good as I hoped, but it introduces the principle of "Faith in magic". If I ever write a full story, this will be important. I might just introduce other principles in the form of similarly short pieces._

_The important thing to remember is that each of these will only introduce one or two concepts. The characters, more than anything, will be different in the "real" story. If I write it, that is._


	2. Believing in Each Other

_Disclaimer: Nope, still don't._

**Believing in Each Other**

Hermione had always been a very logical person – which was, currently, part of the problem. It was a problem of enormous proportions, a matter of life and death, existence or non-existence for all wizards... no, for all _humans_... no, the entire _universe_!

… well, at least it was important to her.

It was maddening, really. Her best friend – and don't you even _think_ about mentioning anybody without messy black hair and emerald-green eyes – had just revealed a horrible truth to her: Every single thing she had ever learned within the magical world was a _lie_. Or, if not everything, then at least the vast majority of it. And since Hermione liked learning, that was a lot of information which was suddenly, frustratingly, irrevocably invalid.

It wasn't the details, either. Not something like "the incantation for the levitation charm is _wingardium leviosa_", or "stirring a potion containing centaur hair in one direction for more than five turns causes it to become toxic", or even "devil's snare is a dangerous plant" - no, it was the huge things. Incantations are important. Magic has limits. Magic has _rules_. All of those, and so many more... nothing but _lies_.

She was desperate. She was angry. At times, she worked herself up to a full-blown panic attack.

The bushy-haired girl had always listened to authority, respected her boundaries, followed the rules... And suddenly, the latter two, taught by the former, didn't exist. Truthfully, she felt helpless.

If there were no rules, no limits, what separated gods from humans? Where was the difference? Eternal life? She was nearly positive that one was possible, possibly even simple. Omniscience? What truth was there left to know? What secrets could possibly be hidden from one who sought them and possessed unlimited power?

Even omnipresence might be possible...

* * *

The human mind was never intended to comprehend either infinity or eternity, least of all both. Even attempting to get a glimpse at one of them could be classified as dangerous insanity. Managing to do so certainly should.

Still, there are things beyond infinity. There are bonds between people, magical people especially, which can overcome such distances effortlessly. On a side note, such bonds are not meant to be fully understood, either.

The instance Hermione decided to ascend to godhood, or something very close to it, and actually _succeeded_, Harry knew something was wrong with his best and closest friend. Anybody thinking about anyone else than a certain bushy-haired brunette, please try again in another universe. Maybe even another _multi_verse.

He didn't know exactly what had happened, but as inexplicable as the bond between such close magical friends may be, it invoked – or maybe created – certain instincts. At that very moment, his instinct was to find Hermione, and that the easiest way to do so would be for his magic to call her to him. So it did.

Slowly fading into existence, it was a very dishevelled, clearly exhausted and nearly panicking Hermione who fell into Harry's welcoming arms, nervously twitching and looking around. Slowly, as she comprehended where she was and who held her, she began to cry. Harry held her, gently stroking her back. Hermione didn't calm down, though – she no longer knew how.

"How Harry? How can you go on? Rules made everything so easy, there was structure, something to understand, something to prevent the bad guys from being _really_ bad... And now they're gone! How can you just stay calm?"

Harry held her a bit closer.

"But there _are_ rules, Hermione."

The brunette drew back a bit, looking into his eyes.

"There aren't, Harry. You were right with what you said on the train – whatever we believe will be our truth. How can I believe in any rules if I know that my belief is the only thing making them true?"

Harry gently smiled at her.

"Everybody is taught the same rules, and they are valid for all of them. Yes, they could believe them away, or however we would call that. Most of them do not know that, though – and the rest have decided to follow the same rules. We may not do so, but even for us, there are some rules. Do you know why?"

Hermione shook her head. She didn't know, and she had tried to find such rules.

"It's simple, Hermione: We have each other. If I ever give in to the temptation to abandon all rules, I hope that you will be there to call me back and rein me in, just as I would do the same for you. Yes, we can build our own set of rules, and it doesn't have to be based on logic, or even on a strong belief in the rules themselves. The core of our rules is the most precious and most stable thing we have: Our faith in each other. My faith that you will always be there if I need you, and your faith that I will always be there for you."

He drew her closer again, and Hermione rested her head against his chest. She heard his heart – it was still beating. It didn't have to, his magic could easily ensure that he could survive without a heartbeat, or even a heart for that matter. It was there, though, steadily beating, and for a moment, the young woman allowed herself to think that it did so for her. Not necessarily in a romantic sense, although everything was possible, but to reassure her, if nothing else.

In that one moment, Hermione understood. Where her intellect and structured knowledge had failed, Harry's instincts had been the superior knowledge. They completed each other, _needed_ each other, and would always be able to rely on each other.

Maybe, the true rules of magic just worked on a much deeper level than any human could truly hope to understand.

* * *

_Dedicated to tgcgoddess as my first ever reviewer._

_This came about as a gift, combined with a misunderstanding, resulting in a challenge which was responsible for half a week of headaches: "What would Hermione do if she was freed from the rules?" Well, I as I'm still using canon Hermione, I think this would happen._

_Oh, and as you might have guessed, I'm a Harmony shipper – sorry if that showed too strongly for your tastes._

_Please PM me about any mistakes, as I believe that reviews should be about content, not grammar and orthography._


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